Silky Vanilla Butter Frosting

Sharlene~W's Note:

This is not your usual butter-cream made with powdered sugar. Butter is beaten into a flour-thickened base to make an exquisitely light and creamy frosting. Not overly sweet like those made with powdered sugar, but sweet enough to be the perfect compliment for a cake. Make sure the base is completely cooled before beating in the butter. I added in 15 minutes cooling time, but it will vary depending on conditions.

• Total Time: 33 mins
• Prep Time: 25 mins
• Cook Time: 8 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 10

Yield: 3.25 cups

• 1 cup sugar
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1⁄3; cups milk
• 1 cup butter , softened
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. In 2-quart saucepan, thoroughly combine sugar and flour.
2. With wire whisk, gradually stir in milk until smooth.
3. Cook over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until mixture has thickened and boils.
4. Reduce heat to low; cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly.
5. Remove from heat and cool completely.
6. In medium bowl, with mixer at medium speed, beat butter until light and fluffy.
7. Gradually beat in milk mixture; beat in vanilla.

Reviews

[canarygirl]

I'm sorry to say that I didn't really care for this frosting. I too, used it to frost a dark chocolate cake. It was easy to make, but to us, the taste of the flour came through, more than the vanilla. The idea is a great one--less sweet frosting is what really appealed to me, though I think that using flour may not be the way to go.

[Jodi B.]

We loved this frosting! Followed the recipe as posted & it was so simple to make. Made sure to boil the mixture for a good 2 minutes; that really thickens it & also eliminates the flour taste. It took a good 1/2 hr to cool. With an electric hand mixer, slowly incorporated the milk mixture into the whipped butter. Like others, I baked Lennie's Deep Dark Chocolate Cake (oh Lennie, this cake deserves to be in the hall of fame) & the frosting was so well suited to this cake. Had to wait an entire day to rate these recipes because I wanted to see if the frosting & cake was as good straight out of the fridge. The cake & the frosting were even better cold! If you find frosting with powder sugar a bit too sweet, I highly recommend using this vanilla butter frosting.

[Michelle S.]

I hearby swear that I will NEVER use another vanilla frosting! This was too good to be true! It is absolutely silken in texture, not gritty or teeth aching sweet! I have been searching forever for a frosting like this...Sharlene, I am forever in your debt. Thank you, thank you, thank you! This is fab on chocolate cake, but I think DH wanted to lick the bowl clean, so I think it would be great on anything!